Grinneal - Beginning

Exposition of the Theory of the First Five Aeons

 By Aeife in Dark Ages

Depicted as a barren land, very little is known about the first Grinneal. There are no official records of this time period, as writing skills are reputed to have been brought in by the appearance of the Aosda civilization. It has been long a fact that even if much of the population at one time knew and could comprehend the beginning of their world, they lacked the necessary time and the energy required for preservation of the knowledge of that portion of the timeline. The conditions were said to be such that any life existing would only be able to consider its own survival as foremost, and even then, the unknown conditions of the world are seen as hazardous.

Although historians now argue over when mundanes first appeared, there seems to be evidence that they have appeared in different stages during the nine thousand years before the next significant event. The existence of large water masses such as oceans and that of organic life forms such as forests are still under heated dispute by the leading historians of our present society.

The current view of this period of time is a land devoid, or as some say, ignorant, of the elements when mundanes lived and first began to develop. The rise of the Aosda civilization, also known as the "ancient" or "wise", in theory developed sometime around the end of the first Aeon and the beginning of the second.

An estimated nine thousand years later, the mundanes began what is now known as the Aosda civilization. Much that is known about this civilization has been in theory, but its existence is a known fact. Defined as an ancient literate society, it has been accounted for the first scholar, as well as the spread of knowledge and learning. Under this civilization, the mundanes rose to newer degrees and began to question the world. From this act propelled the first written language, scribed on rough pieces of bark and stone. Pictures of otherworldly creations came into being, and accounts of life were refined as the knowledge were dutifully collected and recorded.

And as they grew in learning and the first scholars appeared, they began to inspect themselves. They found that they needed beliefs and systems, and finally a higher entity. Their minds reached to new ideas and discovered order. The gods were discovered.

With that discovery came the orders of good and evil. Those that were curious found the mysterious darkness that laid beyond their reach. Most of the scholars, when bestowed the knowledge of gods, looked first to the north. What they found was beyond their imagination, and horror, many argued, for the first time descended upon them. The curious reached out towards the thin tendrils of darkness that waved beyond their ability to comprehend. They were dragged in, and tainted with the ideals that they so wished to know. The madness spread.

All those that did not look to the north wondered at the ensuing chaos, and in their wonder also took to the north. Some of them survived, and beheld hate and terror, and in their desperation to purge the screams from their minds, looked to the other directions. The other gods, those known as the Earth-Sea Gods, were discovered.

Some found relief and escaped the madness. The civilization of the Aosda still flourished, but with a darker light. Their artists now not only painted of quiet hills and skies, but of drowning cities and ghastly fear. The few surviving scholars turned away from the north with shaking fear and dread, and most concentrated on the new Earth-Sea Gods, but the damage was done.

About two centuries later began what was known as the entreaty of the other gods. Those of the Aosda began to tap into the energies and powers of the higher entities, and studied them with great incitement. Some discovered means to draw down the powers without visions or words from the gods, and others found ways of chaining the lesser entities. A few others, scorning the ways, constructed temples to the gods and sought to gain favor. It is doubtful to note that most of the Aosda civilization concentrated on the gods, but it is the reason of many that the count was enough to draw the rage of the god or gods.

There are several interpretations of the events occurred during this Aeon, beginning approximately during Grinneal 15000. As there is no evidence to disprove any of them, both accounts will be described. As the civilization of Aosda grew in number and strength, its people grew in confidence. Believing that they can tame and control the great horror their ancestors encountered, they in turn looked towards the north. To their delight, they found that the powers lying hidden beyond the shadows seem stronger, and in their eagerness, they unleashed it.

Some current philosophers state that the darkness from the north hid within their minds for the most opportune time to reveal themselves and spread swiftly and silently within the ranks of the scholars. Within due time, each and every mundane of the Aosda civilization exhibited some trace of the darkness.

Others state that the result of the probing into the north had far more violent consequences. The scholars who peered into the face of the shadows returned, changed and insatiable in their desire for destruction. It is said that they whispered in the ears of the other scholars, slowly twisting reality and the lore gathered painstakingly over the years.

The civilization slowly began to disintegrate, caught in its own fabrication of calamity and terror. Some say that it was the darkness of the north, Kadath, and themselves which finally ended their madness, and others say that the Earth-Sea gods in pity and disgust sent a fire purging the land of the darkness.

It was the end of the Aosda civilization, and the few that survived lived only because they knew nothing of the ancient and countless lore of the Aosda. Their children’s children lived in peaceful bliss with only a dream of the myth of a civilization long lost harboring the secrets of life and death. Thus was the next Aeon brought to being, the aeon of innocence.

Believed to start from Grinneal 22000, this time period is one of mostly peace in which no major accomplishments were achieved. With the loss of the civilization of the Aosda, the mundanes knew nothing of Kadath and the Earth-Sea Gods. As the Aosda were only stories and tales past down from grandparents to children, not much more attention were granted to the past society. There were very few aspirations to become anything greater than what they are, and the few that were graced with that desire soon returned to the habitual way of living. The need of higher knowledge was not known.

Villages were made and created, the largest of which resembled small cities, which functioned independently. Trade was not known to be established as each village provided for themselves. Exploration of the world was nearly non-existent until the end of the Aeon.

The Aeon of Discovery is believed to have started about 26900 Grinneal. The mundanes began to show evidences of curiosity aimed towards the world. With new exploration of their surroundings, the mundanes for the first time in Aeons conducted journeys and investigations of the outside world. Their findings were categorized into four groups. They were the first elements: Fire, water, earth, and air.

Spurred by this new knowledge, some of the mundanes remembered the myths of the old Aosda civilization. Gathering all the lore still intact, a few reenacted the ancient civilization. Once more the world became a wealth of knowledge to be gathered. Progress was made, and cities rose. Trade developed, and the arts flourished within the cities. By many, it was called the rebirth of the civilization of the Aosda.

The last year known as Grinneal and the beginning of the sixth Aeon, Purity, was the year 32092. A new race came and landed upon the shores of the known world. They were called the Tuatha de Danaan, "The Children of the Goddess Danu", and they, many still claim, heralded the coming of light.

With their coming, it is said that the elements danced in delight and marvel at their infinite grace. Their wisdom spread to the mundanes, and merged with the few preserved and newly gathered lore of the Aosda. Harmony settled and covered the land, and occurrences that never happened before began to frequent the world in the form of enchantment and glamour. The age of Grinneal thus slowly passed by and was no more than a whisper upon a page and a dream of times past as the new age of Danaan settled in, and set in course the events leading up to light, and eventually its shadow.

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